File for all policyholders
Proof of insurance, required to legally travel with your vehicle, will now be provided by consulting the Insured Vehicle File (FVA), which compiles all “third-party” automobile insurance contracts on French territory. This file is accessible to law enforcement during roadside investigations.
From 1986, the small sticker must be clearly visible, stuck on the windshield. Even if they were insured, motorists who never took the time to do so, kept a piece of paper in their papers, or lost the document, were fined 35 euros.
Insurers themselves have been asking for years to remove the green square, to avoid administrative overload and the cost of printing and mailing millions of cards.
“There is no point in leaving this piece of paper that is no longer useful because everything is digitized,” commented Pierre Chacerre, General Delegate of the 40 Million Motorists Association.
The next step, according to him, will be automatic consultation of FVA during technical checks or through automatic radar. “Any vehicle fined for a violation of the Highway Code (speeding, failure to obey a red light, etc.) may be subject to a valid insurance check, simply by reading its numberplate”.
Fighting uninsured
In France, the number of vehicles driving without insurance is estimated at 800,000. Dematerialization of the green sticker will help limit the possibility of evasion of this liability. The government hopes to reduce the number of accidents caused by these uninsured people and considers FVA to be a reliable system.
The accuracy of the information collected and stored in the Fédération France Insurers Insured Vehicle File (FVA) is estimated at 99.3%. Registration of new insurance contracts in the national database takes place within 72 hours.
Verification and “Memo”
To verify correct entries in this register, policyholders need to visit the website www.fva-assurance.fr and enter their vehicle’s registration number and registration certificate number. (Also by telephone 01 83 64 32 22).
